Lancaster on Ice is a fast-growing family-owned attractions venue located in Lancaster, England.
The venue first opened as an ice-skating rink for a six-week season in November 2018. The commonly referred to ‘Winter Wonderland’ enjoyed enormous success, attracting more than 35,000 visitors.
Lancaster on Ice plans to capitalize on its popularity in its second season by introducing more attractions and anticipates around 70,000 people bursting through the gates.
While in operation, Lancaster on Ice employs a team of more than 50 people. We spoke to Dan Knowles (Marketing and Operations Manager) to see how ROLLER has helped support their rapid growth.
A trusted solution
“For us, ROLLER is a trusted solution. There are systems out there that you put your hopes into, but they fail miserably. With ROLLER, it did exactly what it promised. Our day-to-day use of the system is really straightforward. It’s really easy to use.”
Before launching into the entertainment, leisure and attractions industry, Knowles worked in hospitality and understood the importance of having reliable, fit-for-purpose systems.
“We are new in this area, so we wanted to de-risk it all by using off-the-shelf software that we could rely on. We knew we were probably going to spend some money, but really, at the end of the day, the cost of great software is an investment. We’re very happy with ROLLER. The system does exactly what we need it to do.”
Out of the box
A key focus for Knowles was to implement software that required little to no technical resources and could be set up quickly.
“We needed the flexibility to allow people to book online, or to purchase tickets at the venue using our point-of-sale (POS). And crucially, we needed POS and online to be able to talk to each other.”
To achieve this, a cloud-based, out-of-the-box offering would be most effective.
“We initially talked to some programmers about building a system that could do what we needed, but it was going to be too expensive and complex.”
After digging around for businesses with similar needs, Knowles finally came across a venue locally that had exactly what it was looking for.
"We have a trampoline park nearby that uses ROLLER and after some research, we quickly learned their software capabilities were excellent. We did look around at a few other software solutions, but we decided ROLLER was a perfect fit for us and so we took it from there.”
User-friendly and supportive
Many software implementation projects can be complex and frustrating. It’s not uncommon for there to be unexpected issues or budget blowouts along the way. However, with ROLLER, implementation was quick and pain-free.
“ROLLER was great at getting us up to speed with what we needed quickly and professionally. Our customer success manager was incredibly patient and really helpful.”
Since implementation and training, Knowles has found ROLLER to be a breeze.
“Everything has been very smooth. We have found ROLLER to be pretty straightforward, really. Occasionally there are times where I may forget something, but with ROLLER’s support systems, it isn’t long before I’m back on track. It’s reassuring to know there is always a way around things. The support team has been great.”
Even when there were issues outside of the system itself, ROLLER was still able to provide timely and practical solutions that helped our business.
“The only problem we had was with our external payment system, but the ROLLER team was able to help with that, too."
More than just ticketing software
Even with ROLLER’s ability to manage the venue’s guest flow and facilitate a smooth ticketing process, Knowles found value in other areas, too.
“I love the live reporting functionality. Being able to manage and track capacity makes our job so much easier. Plus, it allows us to monitor how our guests use the space in real-time, which means we have a better idea of what to promote and where to push traffic.”
“As a bonus, we’ve also captured a lot of customer data through ROLLER, which is very useful for marketing purposes.”
Advice for other venues
In closing, we asked Knowles if he would recommend ROLLER to other venues.
“Oh yeah. I definitely would, absolutely. I’d be saying if you’re an organization that is serious about success, definitely go with ROLLER.”
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